My name is Courteney Lai, and I am a PhD student in the Terry Fox Laboratory at the BC Cancer Agency Research Centre in Vancouver. I am supervised by Dr. Keith Humphries, who is the Director of the Terry Fox Laboratory, and Dr. Sam Aparicio (a previous guest blogger, too), the Head of Molecular Oncology.

First off, I would like to express how honoured I am to be included in this distinguished group of guest bloggers. I feel privileged to participate and share my experience in the Research Centre with you—our partners in discovery.

Although I am not a doctor (PhD), just yet, I want to share my unique perspective here as a student, being mentored by some of the best in the field of research, and how I’m proudly on my way to making a positive difference in the field of cancer research and care.

I was born and raised in Vancouver and attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary. From a young age, my parents instilled in my brother and I the importance of achieving the best we could, being responsible for our successes, failures, and happiness, and understanding that everyone around us is connected. My parents also passed on the importance of working to make our community a better place and the people in it become part of your family.

Throughout high school I enjoyed meeting new people and making new connections. This interest soon led me to apply for the Pre-International Baccalaureate Program (IB), and then the full IB program. I was accepted to and completed both programs, which offered me accelerated and in-depth studies, and helped me to become a well-rounded and active learner. It was during these experiences that I developed my interest in science.

I’ll share more about that in my next post, though; I have an experiment to get back to.